In 1514, Copernicus hypothesized that the universe does not orbit around Earth. Over a century later, in 1633, Galileo Galilei was convicted by the Catholic Church of heresy for "following the position of Copernicus, which is contrary to the true sense and authority of the Holy Scripture."

In 1992, the Church officially admitted that Galileo was right.

Doesn't it seem ridiculous that it took over four centuries for science and religion to reach agreement? Read more

On Independence Day, President George Bush traveled to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate, to deliver a patriotic speech before a group of newly naturalized citizens. While there, he promptly managed to mutilate Jefferson's views. Read more

Many people view filmmaker Ken Burns as the poet laureate of American life. In documentaries such as The War, Baseball, Jazz and The Civil War, he has woven together words, music and pictures into incredibly moving accounts of the people and events that have framed our national life.Read more

Nearly 55 years have elapsed since an American was executed for a crime that did not involve murder. However, just yesterday, the Iranian parliament opened debate on a bill mandating the capital punishment for the crime of blogging about apostasy. Read more